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At least two forest companies with operations in Canada had programs in place to address wood dust explosion risks well before two deadly sawmill blasts in the province in the past three months, according to a B.C. industry report.

While other companies in the B.C. forest sector had practices in place to control dust because it could clog up machinery and pose fire and respiratory health risks, Weyerhaeuser and Norbord Inc. had created specific programs aimed at reducing an identified risk of explosion caused by wood dust, according to the 385-page report.

The document, Wood Dust in Sawmills, Compilation of Industry Best Practices, is a compilation of company dust-control practices, dust-control equipment information and dust-control recommendations from insurance companies assembled by industry representatives following the latest fatal explosion on April 23. United Steelworkers, the B.C. Forest Safety Council and WorkSafeBC also provided input.

The report, completed May 4, came 10 days after an explosion killed two workers at the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George and injured 22 others. An explosion Jan. 20 at Babine Forest Products in Burns Lake also killed two workers and injured 19.

While provincial regulators and industry have not directly linked wood dust to the fatal explosions, WorkSafeBC ordered sawmills to clean up dust following the most recent fatal blast.

Dust from dry, pine beetle-killed timber is also being examined as an exacerbating factor in the two deadly incidents.

Peter Lineen, CEO of the B.C. Forest Safety Council, said given that some companies were aware of the danger, it’s difficult to say why knowledge of explosion risks associated with wood dust was not more widespread within B.C.’s forest industry before the Burns Lake blast.

Awareness of explosion risks can depend on a company’s history, he noted. “If, unfortunately, they’ve had incidents, they can learn from those errors,” Lineen said Monday.

He also noted industry, including the B.C. Forest Safety Council, has been focused on reducing fatalities in the harvesting sector, not in sawmills.

Council of Forest Industries president John Allan said many B.C. companies were controlling dust in their mills before the first explosion in Burns Lake, but acknowledged efforts were focused on dust as a respiratory concern, not necessarily as a combustion concern.

Workers at Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills have said they didn’t know wood dust was explosive.

Babine worker Trieu Nguyen said Monday millworkers were in “no way” aware that wood dust could explode, and there was no company program that addressed the risk.

Hampton Affiliates, which operated the mill, was not available for comment Tuesday but had earlier said dust was a respiratory concern.

Lakeland Mills worker Lorne Hartford added that while wood dust was known to be a fire risk, no one at the mill talked about it being explosive.

Sinclar Group president Greg Stewart, whose company operated Lakeland Mills, declined to comment on whether the company was aware of the combustion risk posed by the dust before the Burns Lake explosion last January.

United Steelworkers union boss Frank Everitt, who is responsible for workers in northern B.C., also said there was little knowledge of the risk among workers and companies before the two fatal incidents.

Weyerhaeuser’s combustible dust control program, in place since 2009, was sparked in part by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which stepped up inspections following a 2008 dust explosion at a Georgia sugar plant that killed 14 workers.

Weyerhaeuser tells workers to use cleaning methods that do not generate dust clouds and lists 17 areas to look for dust, including above ceilings and on top of posts and beams.

All employees were trained to increase awareness of the explosive potential of wood dust and how to control it, said Weyerhaeuser spokesman Wayne Roznowsky in an email.

Previous testing of samples at Weyerhaeuser’s U.S. plants has confirmed wood dust is combustible.

The company is now testing the explosive potential of dust at its Princeton, B.C. sawmill, its sole remaining lumber plant in the province.

“We have been dealing with the risks associated with dust for a number of years, so we would not describe the issue as a surprise,” said Roznowsky.

According to a March 29, 2011 document included in the B.C. industry report, Norbord Inc. was alerted to the dangers of dust explosions by a 2004 incident at a particle board plant in England.

Norbord, which has plants in Quebec, now treats all dust as potentially explosive and aims to reduce or eliminate the use of compressed air for cleaning.

The B.C. industry report also shows that insurance companies such as FM Global were well aware of the risks of wood dust explosions.

In March 2009, FM Global said that between 1983 and 2006, costs from 166 dust explosions at plants covered by the company were $284 million US.

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